Caleb Pusey
Encyclopedia
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, the founder of the colony of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Pusey came to the colony to manage Chester Mills for Penn. Situated on Chester Creek
Chester Creek
thumb|upright=1.45|Chester Creek near [[Upland, Pennsylvania]]Chester Creek is a tributary of the Delaware River in Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States.-East Branch:...
west of Philadelphia, they were the first Proprietary grist mill and sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
in the colony. From 1701, Pusey served as a justice of the provincial supreme court
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the court of last resort for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It meets in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.-History:...
. Pusey became involved with the local Quaker community, as well as local government. He wrote a number of pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
s, several in defense of William Penn.
The Caleb Pusey House, built in 1683, is the oldest English house in Pennsylvania open to the public. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Built in a vernacular English yeoman's style, it is the only remaining house where William Penn is known to have visited. It stands on the 100 acre (0.404686 km²) near Chester Creek which Penn granted Pusey, a plantation which the latter named "Landing Ford". It is located in what is now Upland
Upland, Pennsylvania
Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven member borough council. The population was 2,977 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Upland is located at ....
, near Chester
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
.
Since the 1950s, the building and grounds have been owned by the Friends of the Caleb Pusey House, Inc. The house was restored and the property is operated as a historic house museum.
Caleb Pusey house
The Caleb Pusey house, at 15 Race Street, Upland, PennsylvaniaUpland, Pennsylvania
Upland is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Upland is governed by an elected seven member borough council. The population was 2,977 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Upland is located at ....
, is likely the oldest house in the state. Pusey came to Pennsylvania with his wife Anne Worley and her two sons, Francis and Henry, from her first marriage. He had shipped a prefabricated mill to build in the colony. The first winter in Pennsylvania they only were able to finish a pit house, and lived in severe conditions. Anne had a miscarriage.
Pusey began their one-story house in 1683. It was constructed in two stages, probably finished a couple of years apart. A storage attic is above the main level. By 1696 Pusey and his family occupied the completed house and hosted the Quaker services of the Chester Monthly Meeting
Monthly meeting
Monthly Meetings are, traditionally, the basic unit of administration in the Religious Society of Friends .For some Friends a Monthly Meeting is a single Meeting , while for others it is a grouping of Meetings which come together for administrative purposes. Membership in the Religious Society of...
. It is built from native stone in the vernacular tradition of yeomen's houses of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England, Pusey's home county. Bricks have been interspersed randomly through the construction, probably replacing missing stones.
In 1717 the Pusey family moved to East Marlborough Township, where he was involved in politics. The Landingford property was owned by a succession of people, including industrialist John Price Crozerhttp://www.oldchesterpa.com/biographies/crozer_john_price_1.htm. He was also associated with the Christian Revitalist Movement of the nineteenth century. The house was privately owned and occupied until about 1950. Also on the property are the Pennock Log House, built by a descendant of Pusey's in 1790; and the Crozer School, built by Crozer for the children of millworkers at his factory. Some of the many thousands of artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
found during twentieth-century excavations on the property are on display in the Crozer School. Crozer also built a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church and millworker housing in the area.
Weather vane
In the late 1840s, a resident discovered an iron weather vaneWeather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
, believed to be from Pusey's mill. Initials on the weather vane are those of the partners William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, Samuel Carpenter
Samuel Carpenter
Samuel Carpenter was a Deputy Governor of colonial Pennsylvania. He signed the historic document "The Declaration of Fealty, Christian Belief and Test" dated 10 September 1695; the original is in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania...
, and Caleb Pusey. The weather vane was donated to the Philadelphia Historical Society, then gilded and displayed on a roof in Harrisburg. It is now occasionally displayed at the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia
Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia History Museum was founded in 1938 as Philadelphia's city history museum.-Founding:...
. The Friends of the Caleb Pusey House are trying to arrange for the weather vane to be returned or loaned to the house museum.
External links
- Google Street View Caleb Pusey House
- Caleb Pusey House and Landingford Plantation, History of Delaware County
- "Caleb Pusey House & Landingford Plantation", The Friends of the Caleb Pusey House, Inc.